William Brent Bell

William Brent Bell
William Brent Bell on the set of The Boy (2016)
Born	Lexington, Kentucky, US
Occupation	Film director, screenwriter

William Brent Bell is an American screenwriter and film director, best known for his work in horror films such as The Devil Inside and The Boy.

Bell was born in Lexington, Kentucky. Along with writing partner Matthew Peterman, Bell wrote screenplay Mercury, which was bought by Universal Studios with Gale Anne Hurd producing.

Since then, Bell and Peterman set up several film projects at studios. Some include Ignition, a kid's action-drama set up at Warner Bros. with Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn producing and Illusion, a thriller set up at Walt Disney Pictures. On the television side the duo have created several one-hour TV series including Eye to Eye with Warner Bros. Television and McG, Worthy and McGraw with ABC Television and Tim Minear as well as The Fix with Sarah Timberman and Sony Television. Bell and Peterman have also developed a number of videogames including Master Thief, with John Woo.

Bell's first horror project was as co-writer and director of the horror thriller, Stay Alive, which was produced with McG and Peter Schlessel and financed by Spyglass Entertainment and Endgame Entertainment. Stay Alive was acquired and distributed domestically by Buena Vista Pictures and internationally by Universal Pictures. His second horror film was The Devil Inside, written with Matt Peterman. Produced by Peterman and Morris Paulson, the film stars Fernanda Andrade, Simon Quarterman, Evan Helmuth, and Suzan Crowley, and was released theatrically on January 6. The film topped the US box office on its opening weekend. It was a record-breaking commercial success and grossed roughly $101 million.